Almost free keyboard for portable prop?

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-01-18 03:13

www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TKB150P&cat=PDA
Micro DataPad Mini Keyboard for Palm PDA m100/m105 Series $0.39

If it wasn't for shipping, these are almost free keyboards for a portable prop project...
IIRC, the m100 is a serial interface.. I'll let you guys know how I make out with these..

UPS shipping is the same for 1-8 of these..

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?

Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
A Living Propeller FAQ - The Propeller Wiki
(Got the Knowledge? Got a Moment? Add something today!)

Mike Cook · 2008-01-18 11:56

www.geeks.com·was giving these away during the Christmas holidays (limit 10), so I added 10 to one of my orders. Have not had time to rip one apart, but looks like they are RS-232 out to the PDA.
Here's a link to the Palm m100 where it shows the 10 pin connector, should be fairly easy to interface this to a Propeller. Just guessing but it looks like only 3 connections will be needed. Pin-2 +3.3, Pin-3 RxD (RS-232) and Pin-10 Ground. Not sure about the baud rate yet, but should not be too difficult to figure out.

http://www.pspilot.de/pppm100/pppm100.html
attachment.php?attachmentid=73700

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 1/18/2008 1:09:28 PM GMT

Graham Stabler · 2008-01-18 12:30

Awesome, thanks OBC

we need to get micro innovations to make a more conventional micro keyboard for the prop, and a panel mount one! [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Graham

Mike Cook · 2008-01-18 12:43

Ok, got off my butt and opened one of them up. Connected the key pad to my PC, loaded PortMon and started HyperTerm. Keyboard appears to be 9600 Baud, 8,N,1·and outputs a 3 byte sequence with each key press. This is what I have captured so far:

[img]http://forums.parallax.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73701[/img]

NOTE: The two extra bytes are transmitted AFTER the key has been released. (i.e. 85 85 or 9E 9E)

Starting at the Left side of the key pad to right looking at the key pad, connector on top:

Pin 2 - +3.3 (used two D-Cell batteries, they were handy!)

Pin 3 - Data out, connected this to PIN 2 on my PC's DB-9

Pin 10 - Ground, connected this to PIN 5 on my PC's DB-9, also connected the ground from the D-Cell Battery pack.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 1/18/2008 1:28:04 PM GMT

Bean · 2008-01-18 13:24

OBC & Mike, Thanks for the info. Great find...

If anyone wants one, they only have 213 left as of 8:30am EST

P.S. Mike, I wouldn't mind knowing what the current draw is on it... Also how big is it ? Would it fit in your pocket ?

Bean

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.iElectronicDesigns.com

Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 1/18/2008 1:36:30 PM GMT

Mike Cook · 2008-01-18 13:45

Dang it!

I just disconnected my setup!

I will connect it back up this evening and measure it's current draw. Attached is a photo of it's size. Key pad height is about .75" tall at the back (near the data connector) and slopes down to about 3/8" to the front (SPACE keys).

So yeah it could fit in your pocket. These are shipped in a retail blister pack, that you have to cut open. Includes a driver disk (1.44) to load a Palm driver. Packed 6 retail packs per case. Thought about purchasing all of them yesterday (350) but shipping was almost twice the purchase price! ($136.50 for the keypads, and almost $200 for shipping!)

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Rayman · 2008-01-18 13:56

Nice! I just got 10...

Mike Cook · 2008-01-18 13:59

Rayman,

So now your committed to write an object!

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Bean · 2008-01-18 14:12

Mike,
I thought about buying them all too. But I wanted the other members to have a chance. So I ONLY got 100 [noparse];)[/noparse]

Bean.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.iElectronicDesigns.com

·

Graham Stabler · 2008-01-18 14:51

How good would one look with one of the oled units mounted above it!

Fred Hawkins · 2008-01-18 15:30

Got six. Deep pockets: GO!

Graham Stabler · 2008-01-18 16:35

I got 10 and to the UK that worked out as 4.39 each, ouch [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-01-18 17:00

12:00 EST... 145 left..

Gee.. They should have sent mine for free.. [noparse]:)[/noparse] <smirk>

You guys took all of the fun out of exploring this one..
Sounds like an object will be written before mine arrive. [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse]

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?

Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
A Living Propeller FAQ - The Propeller Wiki
(Got the Knowledge? Got a Moment? Add something today!)

Harley · 2008-01-18 21:40

Picked up 6. At least there was no OUT OF STOCK notification (yet).

Bummer is the $8 shipping from CA for a (.39 x 6 = ) $2.34 worth of item. So real cost is $1.72 ea keypad. Hope they are worth it.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Harley Shanko

Mike Cook · 2008-01-19 00:55

Current measurements; connecting data out (Pin 3 on the key pad) to PC does not seem to increase or decrease current draw.

2.4uA Key pad idle
400uA Key Press (average - some keys higher, some lower.·MIN 325uA,·MAX 450uA)

Used a Tektronix DMM157 MultiMeter for measurements.

I've got another project currently on the bench, so don't expect a driver out of me anytime soon! Purchased these for a future project. Saw this post and just wanted to post info that I have collected so far.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 1/19/2008 1:04:51 AM GMT

lairdt · 2008-01-19 02:05

Got 10... should be quite handy for robotic keypads.

Bean · 2008-01-19 04:14

Mike,
Thanks for the current info. It's actually alot lower than I thought it would be. But of course that is good news.
Now I glad I got 100 of them.

Bean.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.iElectronicDesigns.com

·

Mike Cook · 2008-01-19 16:36

I need to quit fooling with this key pad and get back to the project that's currently on my bench!!!!!

However, I have an updated table, added a column for the "BLUE" keys and added the '$' to the HEX values so it might be easer to make a table to copy and paste into the Propeller Tool when creating an object for this.

[img]http://forums.parallax.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73702[/img]

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mike

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-01-19 16:57

Thanks Mike!

I'm looking forward to working with this..

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?

Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
A Living Propeller FAQ - The Propeller Wiki
(Got the Knowledge? Got a Moment? Add something today!)

Graham Stabler · 2008-01-20 00:19

Whoever writes the object might consider making it a drop in replacement for keyboard.spin

Graham

Rayman · 2008-01-20 01:30

It seems like it might be close to what PropTerminal does... I.e., take serial input and interpret as keyboard input...

Dennis Ferron · 2008-01-20 10:15

Thanks I ordered some too. Incidently, I wonder if the protocol used for this keyboard is the same as for my larger Palm m100 keyboard? Because I will be writing an object for that keyboard, and yes it will be code-compatible with keyboard.spin!

Paul Baker · 2008-01-21 05:19

9 left, if you haven't ordered yet and meant to, act now.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Karl Smith · 2008-01-21 14:02

I see they changed the price back to 2.99

Fred Hawkins · 2008-01-21 15:55

Still cheap, but let Geeks store them now.

Harley · 2008-01-21 17:22

Mike Cook,

By any chance you check if the FN key, or some other, provide a code for the 'uppercase' key values?

Appears a lookup table will be needed to decode the alphanumerics into standard ASCII values. Then what to do with the others?

Ah, the joy of working with non-standard electronics.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Harley Shanko

Dennis Ferron · 2008-01-21 19:24

The way this discovery being posted on the Parallax forums created such a rush to snap these up reminds me of the "slashdot effect" on website views. I wonder what the geeks.com employees made of this sudden inexplicable spike in demand for an obscure product!!

Fred Hawkins · 2008-01-24 00:55

OT but got this from the Geeks along with the .39 special (one of which was surrendered to better half for a Teddy Bear display):

Wireless IR presenter w/Laser Pointer. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=WIRELESS-PRESENTER&cat=MOU

Not a great laser, and wireless is like a tv set remote (you have to point at usb plug). But $15 (was $10) gets you an easy to disassemble (one screw*) clamshell with 5 momentary on switches and one joystick that controls the pc mouse or when you push down, turns on the red laser. Laser is easy to remove: on a pair of two inch wires.

Runs on 2 AAA's.

Vista recognizes the USB as a mouse controller without any software loading. USB plug fits neatly into the pointer; even has its own trapdoor.

* remove screw in battery compartment, then press side of lower clamshell in to release the six tabs, lifting top clamshell away. The plastic parts are superbly made. The whole item is 4.5" x 1" x 3/4".

Harley · 2008-01-24 01:36

Got my 6-pack of the TKB105P mini keypads today.

Of course, I HAD to open it up. Pic shows an epoxied chip. Resonator at 4 MHz and pinouts could be for a PIC. Three wires from PDA connector are hand soldered to pcb. I didn't get a look at pcb top side; soft rubber keys seemed attached to pcb, so left it for now. If one unit is dead, then will investigate further.

Current draw was about 450 µa on key press; about 60 on release. On key press one character is outputted; on release two are then outputted. Scope is so useful. Yes, about 9600 baud.

The PDA connector could be easily removed and use the 3 through-hole pads to connect 3 wire 'cable' for the Vdd, Gnd and serial out.

Now the 'fun' begins. Have a ProtoBoard nearly set up along with a program to read the serial stream. Shouldn't be too much of a task to see the key codes on a 5" b/w monitor.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Harley Shanko

Post Edited (Harley) : 1/24/2008 7:23:22 AM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-01-24 01:52

Yup, just got mine today too, opened and getting ready to remove the additional screws that hold the keyboard in..

I don't think we've got a prayer at getting a prop to fit in here.. pretty tight!
First thing to go will be the palm connector.

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?

Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
A Living Propeller FAQ - The Propeller Wiki
(Got the Knowledge? Got a Moment? Add something today!)

Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2008-01-24 01:59

Got like the red wire on the pin labeled GND. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Looks like PE3,VCC,GND -- Wonder what PE2 is?

OBC

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?

Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
A Living Propeller FAQ - The Propeller Wiki
(Got the Knowledge? Got a Moment? Add something today!)

Almost free keyboard for portable prop?

Comments